May musings on life latey

Birthdays and such

  I can't believe that it is already May. I'll turn another year older in 24 days..47. I still feel like I haven't accomplished a hill of beans in my life, and wonder if life will be what I want it to be. Lately, I have felt overwhelmed by life in general and wish I could take time off from work and everything and just relax and forget about doctors, bills, and Donald Trump.

 In addition to my birthday being this month, my mom's is on Mother's Day and my middle niece, Allie's, is on the 27th..... she missed being born on my birthday by one day.

Vacation

  I do have something to look forward to: Vacation. It isn't coming soon enough, but I have started the official countdown on a calendar. We are down to 32 days til vacation. I'll be going to the Outer Banks for a week, and I seriously cannot wait. I have started my list of what I want to take and have set aside some books and DVDs to take along.

Work

  Work has been going well. I like what I am doing, but I weary of driving 45 minutes one way; and I wish I got paid more for what I do. I got recognized last week for doing a good job. I was given a card with a note and a gift card to the one coffee shop in the hospital..... it made me feel very good.

Weight

  I am officially down 25 pounds from when I hospitalized on March 3. I was up to 247, and am down to 222. My goal weight is 185 or 190, so I have 32 or 37 more to go. I am getting used to my new diet, though weekends are the toughest for me. I have a ton of clothes that I had grown out of and am slowly getting back into, so I won't need to go out and buy a new wardrobe..... I have had a whole wardrobe packed away and waiting for a time when I lost enough weight.

Day off

  Today was the second of my two days off. My middle niece didn't have school today and was hoping I'd take her out for lunch, so I picked her up and did some shopping and asked her where she wanted to eat. She picked Mexican, not a surprise. It makes this uncle feel good that my nieces and nephews want to be with me, and I was happy to buy her lunch.

Good deeds

  I took a lady in a wheelchair up to her husband's hospital room on Friday and then back outside to her car. As I put his bags in the car for her, she thanked me and said I did my good deed for the day. I jokingly asked if that meant I didn't have to do any more good deeds for that day.

 Then Saturday, I was shopping in Boardman. It was raining, and when I went to the Goodwill there that is in a plaza, I parked up by the row of stores. There was another store I wanted to go to that was quite a ways down but could be reached by walking under the same roof. As I was walking back to my car, I heard a lady's voice say "Sir, can you please help us?" There to my right was a car with a lady sitting behind the wheel. The lady who had called me was standing by the car door with several bags at her feet. I figured they were having car trouble, and I am the last guy you'd want to call if you're having car trouble, but I walked over to see what they needed.

 It turned out that the lady with the bags didn't even know the elderly woman in the car, but was trying to help her. The issue: the lady had gotten her hazard flashing lights on and couldn't figure out how to shut them off. I got in the passenger side and spied the button immediately between two vents on her dash. She said she had wondered what that button was for. I walked away happy it was something I could help her with and feeling good that I did it.

 And I was left thinking about how we all need to do more good deeds. We are all so busy that we don't always take the time to slow down and help someone in trouble.

Listening

  I ran across this statement recently and shared it on Facebook: "listening is a kindness that anybody can show." It is so easy to hear people without really listening, and even easier to try to fix people when we do listen.... sometimes we just need someone to listen to us and not offer solutions, not give advice, but just listen and let us get out what we need to tell someone without recriminations or advice.

Voting

 Something I have been wondering about lately: Do we bear any responsibility for the actions of a candidate we vote for?  For example: say we vote for candidate A who goes on to pass legislation forcing abortions on people who already have the allotted amount of children (it happens in China)......do that candidate's voters/supporters share any blame or responsibility for that law being passed and for the babies being murdered?

Makeup

  I really don't like makeup on women........I find myself wondering why women think they need it. If we men don't need makeup to make us look good, then why do women need it? There are many animals that God made the male more beautiful than the female.. is that the case with we humans too - that God made men more beautiful than women so women need help to look as good as we do? Just asking... and really, what is up with the raccoon look/eye shadow? And why do women want really red lips......we guys are happy with normal colored ones :)

Bathrooms

  If my nieces are ever in a public restroom and a man tries to go in..... I will stand in his way and tell him he is waiting until they come out. This stuff is insane and we do not have to go along with it. And yes, I am boycotting Target. And why is it OK for men to be in the women;s bathrooms, fitting rooms, and locker rooms; but not OK for sane people to have a problem with that?

Donald Trump

  It isn't over yet. Old adulterer/strip club owner Trump may not get the nomination..... we can only hope he doesn't. I am 100% convinced he cannot beat Hillary. I am still confused and amazed at the conservatives and Christians who are overlooking so much about him that they'd never accept in someone running on the Democratic ticket...... they are just like the Obama voters who plugged their ears and shut their eyes to all the bad about him and voted for him anyway.

Yard sale

  Our family is gearing up for a yard sale, if we can have a week-end without rain. Hopefully that happens soon, as I am tired of all of the yard sale stuff sitting in the way. If you live close, I'll be selling a lot of books, XL shirts, some XXL shirts, CDs, and some pants and jeans.... in addition to everything else we will have.

Singleness, and addicted to relationships

 Being single, especially being a single guy of my age, can be tough. I rarely do anything with someone outside of my family, and the majority of my conversing, etc happens in passing at church.....

 However, I have become more comfortable in my own skin. I know people who seem addicted to being in a relationship. They break up or divorce and immediately are on the hunt for another mate because they have to have someone.....it is like they are afraid to be by themselves without someone to love and be dependent on. Being single isn't that bad, and if you can't be comfortable just being you as an individual and not being a couple, there is something wrong.

Americanized Christianity

 I wonder how many of us are the kind of Christians we should be? This Americanized Christianity that so many of us possess seems so shallow, self-centered, and has no cross or denying ourselves of much of anything.